A Network Perspective on Public Procurement Markets

Public procurement markets are where the state buy goods and services from the private sector, accounting for between 5 and 20% of GDP in most countries. Procurement markets are vulnerable to two main forms of cost-multiplying bad behaviors: corruption, when state actors rig the procurement for selected firms, and collusion, when groups of firms agree to forgo competition and charge higher prices. I argue that a network approach offers new perspectives on both of these issues using data from Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Georgia. The network of contracting relationships between issuers and firms and the network of co-bidding behavior among firms are valuable maps for researchers, and anti-corruption and competition authorities alike. 

More about the lecturer: https://johanneswachs.com